Effective digital marketing campaigns for charities

 

Main message and how to get it out there

 

Once you’ve researched your audience, you need to adopt the same method to decide on a chief marketing message. What do you want people to think about after you’ve launched your campaign? In other words, what do you want people to associate with your charity and what it does? This differs from your campaign goal, as it’s more to do with: the issue you want to solve, the answer that you propose and the action the audience can take. You don’t want people to forget who you are, so your campaign needs to be special to your organisation.

 

For example; US organisation, charity: water, dedicates a section of its website to real-life stories of people the charity has helped, and is renowned for its vivid images and poignant videos. Showing the world how your charity engages and helps its causes adds personality that can’t be copied. Use Instagram and Facebook to get quality images of your charity at work out there.

 

You can even use the photos on roll-up banners and place these in busy public spaces. Record interviews, upload pictures, create memes, and even do a ‘day-in-the-life-of’ detailing a colleague or recent beneficiary of your charity and upload this to YouTube. After all, showing people what your charity can do is far more effective than just telling them.  

 

 

Spreading the word: getting your campaign noticed

 

There’s no better way to reach a lot of people in very little time for free than social media. Use your charity’s online platforms —Twitter, Facebook and Instagram — to boost your campaign and encourage people to share your posts, videos, photos and Tweets. There have been many examples regarding the efficiency of social media marketing for charities over the years.

 

In 2014, the Soldiers’, Sailors’ and Airmen’s Families Association (SSAFA) launched a video marketing campaign to raise awareness and hallmark the 100th anniversary of the First World War. Despite only running for two weeks, the campaign was covered hundreds of times in the media and achieved more than 14,000 social media shares. Although digital marketing is highly effective when your aim is to create a campaign on a budget, you can also use some print marketing materials in order to engage with audience members that aren’t active online.  

 

 

Creating effective digital content

 

Experts predict a sizeable shift towards video content as a form of marketing, socialising and engaging online. If that’s the case, why not get ahead of the game and start creating plenty of video content to push your campaign today? Aside from being a faster and easier way for the public to engage with your campaign material, video and image content is also free to capture using a smartphone! Just remember, that powerful images and insightful videos can only do so much. You must merge these with strong, emotive and informative copy to support them. Content online varies from words you’d read in a book or in a magazine, so you need to be aware of the differences to maximise on its potential.

 

Online content needs to be punchy, short and powerful. Readers typically devote less time to reading online, so avoid longwinded sentences, incomprehensible paragraphs and difficult words. Place a strong key message — such as the taglines: ‘Likes don’t save lives’ from UNICEF Sweden or ‘Help is a four-legged word’ from Canine Companions — next to a striking image, to increase your chances of engagement. Although you might be dealing with hard-hitting issues, digital copy must retain a chatty, familiar tone at all times. A light-hearted persona is key if you want people to carry on reading — nobody wants a lecture when they’re scrolling through Twitter or reading their emails during a break.  

 

 

Getting additional funding

 

If you choose to get extra funding, here are a few options:

 

• Local government: browse a list of local authorities for more information on funding across the UK.
• Public: according to Company Giving, funds from the general public account for about 35% of voluntary sector income.
• Business: since donating boosts goodwill and staff morale, corporate donations are growing in popularity.
• Lottery: nearly 30% of lottery ticket sales are donated to charities.

 

Achieving your marketing potential using digital tactics is a tough, but reachable goal. If your charity has little cash to spare, follow these digital marketing tips to help cut the costs of creating a successful campaign.

 

This article was written for Charity Digital by UK commercial printing company, Where The Trade Buys.

 

Sources:

www.companygiving.org.uk/content/help/sources-of-funding.aspx

econsultancy.com/blog/62645-five-tips-for-charities-to-rock-their-digital-marketing

fundraising.co.uk/2016/05/23/charity-fundraising-print-importance-direct-mail-infographic/#.We8LHmhSyUk